


Acceptance

by spacefucker



Series: 30 Day Challenge (Marvel) [9]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: CACW didn't happen bc it's awful, M/M, communication is key folks, steve tries to protect tony and tony doesn't need protecting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-22 07:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8278397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacefucker/pseuds/spacefucker
Summary: Steve loves Tony but doesn't want to be the reason the Stark name falls. Tony clears things up pretty quickly.





	

It all started with a kiss.

Well, rather, a kiss and then the ensuing discord about said kiss.

Steve was alone in his room – his old room – sitting on his cold bed with the lights off. It felt a little surreal to him in much the same way seeing old Captain America memorabilia felt strange. All of it was like taking a step back into a memory that even though it was yours still managed to feel cold an impersonal. Because Steve was trying hard anymore to figure out who he really was. Before becoming a soldier he was just a kid and both of those parts in his life weren’t wrought with personal growth or understanding. So here he was, stuck in a wholly new time, feeling more hollow than whole.

He supposes that is what the problem really is. Figuring himself out has been a slow, arduous process and it was even more of a pill given his new position in the future. He stood for something, he was someone people looked up to. Captain America is a hero. Even his name, Steve Rogers, wasn’t his anymore. Steve was held by social contract. Or that’s the way he felt. It was hard to find yourself when most everyone thought they already had you figured out. Bought and sold to the public he was still that monkey.

The part of him that loved Tony Stark was all his own, though. It hadn’t come as a surprise, though, no. More of a shock, really. And not because he was having trouble with his sexual identity. It was all because of who Tony was. Tony is enigmatic, crass, impossible, forward, and guarded. But he was also giving, loyal, self-sacrificing, intelligent, and caring. Steve would be lying if he said he didn’t love all of Tony.

The shock came when Steve realized that Tony is the man Steve wishes he could be. He loves Tony for being that man regardless of his past. Tony, who does his best and cares for people so much, no matter the consequences to himself.

So he fell in love and regardless of Steve's own faults and missteps Tony fell in love with him, too.

Steve wasn’t stupid, though. He knew what most of the public would feel about Captain America and Iron Man were an item. He couldn’t care less what they thought of him. The way he saw it Steve deserved to have something good in his life. He wanted it so badly, too, just to have something that brought light into his dark life. A bright star to warm his iced heart. Something that made him feel like a person.

But it would destroy Tony.

He could see it now. Stocks plummeting, the hate mongering, the _disdain._ Tony was so much bigger than Steve and he didn’t want to be responsible for taking a chip off the great name of Stark. Steve could take the hit, he didn’t have anything more to himself than the inflated idol that was Captain America. Tony was a different story.

So it started with a kiss.

They were in public. The team had come together for a charity event and Tony had just leaned in and kissed Steve like they were home and not in front of the many prying eyes of hundreds of people.

He’d shut down at that point, laughing like it had been some joke, and had avoided Tony the best he could for the rest of the evening. It had pained him to no end to see Tony’s face, confused and hurt, eyes calculating and running the math over to find what he did wrong. Like it had somehow been his fault.

Steve didn’t think he could live with himself if loving Tony is what tore him apart.

And then Tony was there, rapping his knuckles on the door frame to his open door looking contemplative and trying but failing to hide his pain.

“Are we going to talk about tonight?” He said, smile empty and eyes guarded. “Have I been misreading things? Because I thought we were a couple. Couples tend to do couple things with each other.”

“I thought it would be bad for you.” Steve clears his throat, “Bad for your image.”

“Kissing you?”

Steve sighs and shakes his head, “Being with me.”

It silent for half a second before Tony laughs and walks further into Steve’s room, “How could you be bad for my image? You’re chiseled marble, sugar, if anything you’d be a bonus.”

“You know what I mean, Tony.”

“I really don’t”

“I know what people think, Tony.” Steve looks up into Tony’s eyes and tries to will him to understand. “It’s not acceptable.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what other people think is acceptable and not, Steve. I love you. Why does anything else have to matter?”

Steve runs a hand over his face, “What about your company?”

“Stocks are always going to fluctuate. Believe it or not, dating you is actually one of the few good things I’ve done.”

“That’s not true.”

Tony just shrugs, “Why should I be policed by what other people think is acceptable?”

“I don’t know, Tony, I just-“

“Did it ever occur to you that there would be people who supported us?” Tony comes to stand in front of Steve and brings his hands up to the sides of his face. “There’ll be backlash, sure, but then I remind myself that there are going to be kids that look up to us and maybe come to believe that the world isn’t as hopeless as it seems.”

Steve nuzzles into one of Tony’s hands and sighs, “I should have talked to you.”

“And I should have talked to you.” Tony kisses Steve’s forehead and brings Steve’s head forward to rest against his chest. “Communication is key.”

“That sounds like Pepper.”

Tony clicks his tongue, “And you would be correct in assuming that.”

“Can we go back to our room?”

“Baby, we can do whatever you want.”


End file.
